Prophecy
by The Rushing Wind
Summary: The discovery of an Ancient Temple sparks a baffling mystery that examines the very foundations that Atlantis was built upon. Why is it so important? Written upon a 300,000 year old mural are the names of John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir. SheppardWeir
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Stargate or any of its characters, and I make no profit from writing this.

**Spoilers:** Everything up to The Runner (Season 2)

**Summary:** PR5-378 seems like such an unassuming planet, until the discovery of an old temple changes everything. Why? Written on the 10,000 year old murals are the names of John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir.

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_Prologue_

-

_"Trust me."_

It's such a simple statement, really. Yet it implies so much, so much that frightens her, so much which is still beyond her scope of understanding.

There was John Sheppard, standing on the edge of god-knows-what with a hand extended to her, and all he says is "trust me". And then it's too late, and he leaves her, falling backwards over the precipice into a dark unknown. There's a feeling of such terror when she sees him fall, and she's not sure if its for his safety or if it is that she had not taken his outstretched hand. The terror grips her as she moves to the edge...

- - - - - - - - - - - -

And with a start, Elizabeth Weir opened her eyes.

It was that dream again. The one she'd been having quite often as of late.

It was deep in the night, and the rush of terror had left her wide awake. And of course, the only thing that could soothe her back to sleep after this particular dream was an outside walk and the deep, salty smell of the ocean.

The breeze was warm, and the sounds of the ocean was peaceful. Thoughts were scare as she moved slowly among the railing, her eyes only half open, just breathing in her surroundings. But the serenity of the moment just wouldn't last, and reality began to set in around her.

She was Elizabeth Weir, the leader of the Atlantis Expedition. They had essentially been at war with the Wraith...still were, really. Except the Wraith thought Atlantis had been destroyed, when in fact it was all just a very clever ruse.

She leaned forward on the railing, looking out at the dark ocean in front of her. There was a moon out, but it cast only a very dim light...and Elizabeth was almost grateful for the darkness, for the chance to disappear into a dark hallway for a moment. She brushed a few strands of hair out of her face.

She was in love with John Sheppard. Had been for quite a little while, actually.

_"You can't!"_

_"I have to, and you know it."_

_"...Go."_

Go. That one word had sealed her fate. That one word had changed her life. Never had any one word been so painful to utter. Never in her life had one word made her realize an absolute truth as clear as crystal. She had known from the moment she uttered that word that her life was undone, utterly destroyed.

And then he came home, back to Atlantis.

Her life was undone. And she still didn't have it back together yet.

The dream frightened her. It always happened the same way. John, standing on the edge of a precipice, holding out a hand to her. And he tells her to "Trust me". And no matter what, she cannot move in her dream, and looks on in panic. She wants to take his hand. She wants so desperately to trust him, to go with him.

Though, she isn't sure why he's falling over the edge of a cliff...and for that matter, why she would want to fall with him.

She sighed, and leaned back against the wall. It was rather cool, and the sensation bit at her skin through her clothing, but she felt so weary that she leaned back against it anyway.

Tired, but not sleepy.

God dammit.

She began the walk back to her room feeling considerably calmer than when she'd left it. She found her bed to be a bit cool after the warm breeze of her walk, and drew the covers close around her.

It was on nights like this that she felt unbearably alone.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The morning came much too early. "You said you had big news, Dr. McKay?"

"Yes, yes. From the writings we obtained from our last offworld expedition, we think there could be a ZPM on PR5-378."

While, to his credit, Rodney had said 'big', she hadn't quite been expecting ZPM big. "A ZPM? How reliable are these writings?"

"Dr. Weir, they have not failed their people for many years. It is said they were conjured forth and written by one of the ancestors." Teyla's voice was warm, and her smile kind.

"Yes, well, more than likely it was an Ancient with a time-travel device of some sort. We've encountered that situation before." Rodney looked across the table at her. "Either way, we've been to PR5-378 before, the locals are friendly, and I think it's worth another look."

She glanced at all the people currently present, though her glance at John was short compared to the others. "Colonel Sheppard," she said, and finally locked eyes with him. "Take a team through the gate. See what you can find."

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**AN:** And thus the expedition sets out on a mystery as vast and strange as the Pegasus Galaxy itself.

Updates will be added each Tuesday, and reviews are greatly appreciated.


	2. The Temple

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, don't own them. I'm just borrowing for a little while.

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_Chapter 1 - The Temple_

_- _

John wasn't sure how he felt about having the local village idiot as a guide.

All right, so maybe that was being a little judgemental, he thought to himself. Just because the man was loud and incredibly annoying didn't mean he was stupid. But no matter how John tried to slice it, the man _was_ rather idiotic. First off, _shouting _in a jungle that had lots of big things around that could eat you was not an especially bright idea. Second, if there happened to be any Wraith in the area, the constant shouting kept giving away their position. And last, but definitely not least, John was beginning to wonder if the man knew where they were headed at all.

"Hurry up! Hurry up! Just this way! Almost there! Excited much!" The man hopped up and down to convey his excitement, then disappeared into the dense growth before them.

"He's been saying 'almost there' for an hour," Rodney grumbled.

"Did the others not say that it was close by?" Teyla added.

John slashed away some of the dense undergrowth in front of him. "I'm beginning to wonder myself."

He trudged ahead through the strange vines and plants, most of which were of a variety he'd never seen before. As he cut it all away, hack by hack, he couldn't help but notice that it was getting more and more dense. It was a monotonous activity...hack, slash, hack, slash, check around for signs of life, hack, slash, hack, slash, check teammates, hack, slash...

One's mind could wander in the face of such monotony.

And John Sheppard's wandering mind inevitably came to rest upon _her_.

Normally, he refused to think about her. He refused to ever think about her until the deepest hours of the night when there was no chance of giving anything away. He wouldn't admit what he felt. He wouldn't talk about it. He didn't want to even _think_ about it. It was impossible, simple as that.

But despite it all, John Sheppard knew he was in love with Elizabeth.

Hell, he was _devoted_ to her. He'd jump off a cliff if she asked him to.

It was just something he knew. There was no point in thinking about it, let alone _talking_ about it. Something would have to drastically change before he'd even consider it.

But Atlantis was a city of unending change, of constant turmoil and chaos that boiled just below the surface. What was absolute truth on one day was turned upside down the next. Even Atlantis' very existence hung by threads. If the Wraith ever got word that the city was still in existence, everything was over. Maybe they would be able to escape this time, maybe they wouldn't.

The guide's shrill voice cut through the air. "Hurry up, I say! Hurry! I can see the place now!"

After having been abruptly brought back to reality, John hacked away at the last few vines separating him and the guide. Coming to a rest beside him, he wiped beads of sweat from his forehead. It might be an alien world in a distant galaxy, but it sure as hell felt like a tropical rainforest back on Earth. Taking a drink of water, he examined the small clearing in front of them.

"Wow, that's...unusual." Rodney crossed his arms as he stared at it. "Looks like the outpost in Antarctica, but it's...green."

It _did_ look like an Ancient Outpost. It was composed of the same strong, smooth-to-the-touch material, and he recognized the overall structure. But the outside walls were, in fact, green, and seemed to have vines and other assorted plant life carved onto them.

"Perhaps it is designed to conceal its location?" Teyla ventured.

John placed the palm of his hand on a section. "Sure looks that way." The dome-shaped structure was not very tall, perhaps only twice his height, and John surmised that a majority of the building was most likely underground.

"Yes! Yes! We must hurry! The rains will start soon, and you all will be wet wet wet!" The man motioned to the other side, where there was a small opening in the wall.

Getting inside was easy. After a short climb down he found himself in a dark hallway. While the others were climbing down, he pulled out his flashlight to have a quick look around. It was dark and damp, and despite the fact that John could see lights on the edges of the corridor, they did not light up when he approached. He would have alerted Rodney to this fact, but the walls captured his attention once again for a completely different reason.

They were undoubtedly in an Ancient Outpost, but the walls were lined with figures of Greek gods and goddesses. At least, that's what they looked like to John.

"Look at these," Rodney muttered. "This is strange, isn't it? I don't recall ever seeing this in another outpost."

"Me either," John replied, shining his light around to examine the far end of the hall.

The guide pointed down at the end of the hall. "This place is the Ancestor's Temple. They came here to pray before the Great City fell."

John faintly heard Rodney mutter something about Ancient-centered cults, and a faint smile crossed his lips. Things might always be in a state of change, but Rodney would always be Rodney.

As they walked further down the hallway, they descended further into the ground, until they finally emerged into a large chamber that glowed an ambient shade of green. Rodney scampered ahead to the power controls while everyone else mostly just looked around.

There were many figures and altars inside of this chamber, including a small, box shaped room in the dead center. John walked around it for a moment to examine it. It was about a foot taller than he was, and glowed green, just like everything else in the room. He stepped inside, and at first it appeared there was nothing there except more figures on the walls. One wall in particular caught his attention, decorated with a bunch of angels that looked like something he'd find in a church. They were so radically different from the other figures in the outpost that he felt he had to reach out and touch one.

It was a very odd sensation, he remembered later on, but he simply _had_ to reach out and touch it. The material was smooth and warm against his fingertips, and he realized on some level that this should be strange, considering the relative coolness of the room. The wings were finely carved, and he couldn't resist running his fingers along the texture. His fingers continued to slide across the smooth wall past the wing, but his gaze was still fixed upon the angel.

Thinking about it later on, he knew that if he hadn't been so transfixed by the angel, he would have never discovered the writings.

He didn't notice it at first. His fingers had been sliding over the warm, smooth surface, and then suddenly there was texture underneath them. He had been completely transfixed by the angel, but the very instant his fingertips felt something other than smooth wall the hypnotic spell seemed to break. Curious, he turned his gaze towards his hand.

He couldn't see anything but smooth wall, but his sense of touch told him something was definitely there. He lifted his flashlight, and then he saw the source. The wall was framed by the angel figures, and was covered in Ancient writing.

He took a step back to examine it for a moment. Without the flashlight, it was impossible to see the writing. The soft green glow that permeated the chamber concealed it from view.

Rodney emerged around the doorway. "There you are. Why didn't you answer when we called you?"

John looked over at him and frowned. "You called me?"

"Yeah. I found a ZPM, but it's busted." Rodney looked disappointed. "But there has to be a power source here somewhere. I mean, how would these walls glow if there's not?"

John did not answer, and turned his gaze back to the wall.

"Colonel? You all right?"

"Look." John beckoned Rodney inside the small room and lifted his flashlight. "What do you make of this?"

Rodney lifted his own flashlight and approached the wall. "Ancient writing." He was silent for a moment as he tried to read it. "It looks like gibberish. I can't make sense of it." He examined it a moment longer. "It's in Ancient, but the symbols don't form words. It's like some two year old just threw random letters up there." He began to dig around in his bag for something.

"What is the matter?" Teyla's voice carried into the room.

"Nothing, nothing," Rodney called back to her. "Colonel Sheppard just found something of mild interest." He finally pulled out a camera. "Eh, I'll take a few pictures and see if I can figure anything out back in my lab."

But John didn't respond. He couldn't even move. His eyes were drawn to one spot in particular on the wall, and as Rodney moved about and took pictures, he couldn't tear his gaze away from it. There, in the dead middle of the wall, was the Atlantis gate address.

"It has the Atlantis gate address on it."

Rodney didn't stop. "It was written by Ancients. Does that surprise you?"

"The point of origin is Earth."

This time, Rodney _did_ stop. "Wha...? Show me."

John lifted his hand to point at the gate address, embedded in the middle of the long string of characters. "There."

Rodney examined it more closely. "Wait, there are words here too...Wraith...Great City of Atlantis...Earth...This is fascinating!" He began to snap more pictures. "I'll run comparisons on this text when we get back to Atlantis."

"I thought you said it was gibberish," John dryly commented.

"I'm probably just not able to read it...yet. It could be some local derivative of Ancient, or maybe it's written in code." He snapped the case to his camera shut and put it back in his pack.

"Perhaps we should return at a later date to explore this compound further." Teyla commented as she handed a bottle of water to John.

He stepped out of the room and took the water. "Probably a good idea."

Rodney was silent for an unusually long time before he finally said something. "Oh...that's...oh..." His voice died.

John turned back around to face him. "What is it, Rodney?"

Rodney did not respond at first, as he was busy translating and retranslating something. He muttered something softly, and John just barely caught it: "Elizabeth Weir."

Now that he had a vested interest in what was on that wall, he repeated himself again. "Rodney, what does it say?"

Slowly Rodney looked over at John. "Elizabeth's name is on this wall."

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**AN:** Check back next Tuesday for the next part! Thanks for reading!


	3. Primer

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, don't own them. I'm just borrowing for a little while.

**AN:** Despite the fact that there are some _Before I Sleep_ (Season 1) spoilers in this chapter, this story is NOT a tag of that particular episode. It really has nothing to do with it at all.

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_Chapter 2 - Primer_

-

The wind is moaning.

No...wait...is it _singing_?

Elizabeth realizes that she's on a terrace of some sort. She really only sees blurs of colors: green, grey, blue.

"_Elizabeth_."

She spins around, and there _he _is, standing right on the edge of a precipice. His arm reaches out, and he says it again: "Trust me."

Elizabeth is frozen in her spot. She doesn't know how, but she know she's been here before, that she's seen this happen before. And despite that, she can't move, she can't even speak. But she _wants_ to take John's hand, because somehow she knows she _must_.

A million lifetimes pass, and with her whole being she concentrates on only one action: Move.

Slowly her hand opens and her arm moves toward him, but her feet are still rooted to the spot. A look of despair creases her face, as she tries with all her might to just _move_. It's so hard.

But his eyes shine with something she's never seen before, and he just smiles the way he always does. "Elizabeth." His arm lowers to his side, and he falls backwards.

"No!" she shouts, and suddenly her feet are moving and she's racing to the edge again. Terror overwhelms her, and she realizes that it's too late...too late...

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"No!" 

It took a moment for Elizabeth to realize she was back in Atlantis, and quite safe and sound in her office. She'd nodded off while waiting for a report, which really didn't surprise her after her sleepless night. But she didn't have time to ponder the dream any further, because what had awoken her was an incoming wormhole. She jumped to her feet and took off for the gate room, trying to look as aware as possible.

John's IDC came through, and mechanically she gave the command. "Lower the shield." She walked down the stairs in anticipation of the returning team, taking it a bit slow. She knew it was silly, but she'd always had a fear of tripping and falling down those stairs.

Her mind briefly went over a few details of the dream while she faced the active stargate. Her memory of the dream was clearer than before, and unlike previous times, she'd been able to move towards John...just a little. She could recall more details, and she'd even seen colors, even if they were just blurs.

What did this dream mean? She certainly wasn't going to go to Doctor Heightmeyer about it...

After a few seconds more, John walked through, followed by the rest of his team. No one said anything as she glanced between their faces. She scrunched her face a bit as she studied their expressions. With the exception of Rodney, they all looked rather shellshocked. Or at least Elizabeth couldn't think of a better word at the moment. And after a moment of consideration, she decided this was probably bad news in regards to the ZPM.

"Did you find the ZPM?"

"Yes," Rodney responded, sounding a bit excited, "but it was in quite a few pieces. I couldn't salvage it."

There was a long, awkward pause, and the only sound was Rodney digging through his vest for something.

Their silence was uncharacteristic, and Elizabeth knew something had to be up. "Is something wrong?"

Still, for a long moment there was silence. And though she was trying not to notice, John was staring at her in the most peculiar way. "We...ah..."

Rodney cut him off, brandishing a device in his hand. "Colonel Sheppard discovered some writing in an Ancient Outpost."

She crossed her arms. This sounded interesting. "What did it say?"

"I...uh, I need to go check something out. The briefing is in a few minutes, right?" Rodney chirped.

"Rodney...?"

"No, really, I need to get with Doctor Zelenka and analyze the writing. It's important." He looked over his shoulder at John. "They'll explain."

He looked worried and anxious at the same time, which was a bit odd, so she nodded her approval. "All right. Briefing in twenty minutes."

He scampered off quickly, and she turned her attention back to John, Teyla, and Ronon. "Report."

John glanced back at Teyla and Ronon, and they all shared the same uneasy look. It made for another awkward pause.

The silence was beginning to worry her a great deal. Facing John, she tried once again to get an answer. "Rodney said you found some Ancient writing. What did it say?"

John took a deep breath. "You remember the old you, right? The one that went back in time to meet the Atlanteans with that time machine?"

She nodded. How could she ever forget?

"She said that the time machine guy went through the gate to Earth, right? And that he never built that time machine here?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "That's right. She said he went back to Earth."

"Are you positive?" John looked genuinely worried, something that happened very seldom.

"Absolutely." The gate deactivated behind them, and she shook her head. "Look, would someone here like to explain what's going on?"

Teyla took a step forward. "We found an underground temple located inside of an Atlantean structure. Inside there were numerous designs and structures, along with a small internal room covered in writing."

John just stood there, staring at her in that same peculiar manner. "I'll explain, Teyla."

His stare made her feel very strange... She took a breath and nodded. "Fine. May I speak to you outside for a moment?"

He nodded, never breaking eye contact. "I think that's probably a good idea."

Elizabeth dismissed Teyla and Ronon, and walked outside like she'd done so many times before, with John right behind her. Once the doors of the balcony were shut, she turned to face him, her expression none too gentle. "What the hell is going on? Why does everyone look so uneasy?"

If anything, his eyes seemed to examine her even more closely. "We found an Ancient Outpost, we thought, but once we got inside it was different than the ones we'd seen before. The locals say it's a temple that the Ancients used to worship at." For only the second time after they'd come back, he looked away from her, and stared out across the open sea. "I'd wager a guess that they're right."

Elizabeth felt her stomach twisting. "What did you find?"

"When we got inside, there were these carvings everywhere...kinda like Greek gods and goddesses." He shook his head. "It all went down to a chamber that was like nothing I've ever seen. The walls _glowed_. There were no shadows anywhere, light just came from everywhere in the room. I found a wall that had Ancient writing on it, and Rodney said it was gibberish, but I saw the Atlantis gate address, with Earth as the point of origin, and..." His voice just faded off.

"Earth? Is that possible? Did the Ancients even leave evidence of Earth outside of Atlantis?"

John shrugged, and looked back at her, that odd stare trained on her again. She let herself just stare at him for a moment, and found herself a bit surprised. Was there a bit of _fear _in his eyes? No, it couldn't be...

Finally he spoke again. "Rodney said the writing was in code somehow, but there were some words we could read." He glanced over at the ocean again before continuing. "'Wraith', 'Atlantis', 'Earth'..."

Elizabeth gasped in surprise. A momentary rush ran through her as she realized what a discovery this could turn out to be, but it was followed by a sense of dread. Why had everyone looked so uncertain upon their return to Atlantis? "But...?"

"But...well..." He kind of faded off, staring at her once again in uncertainty. "Your name is on the wall."

Her eyes widened. "My _name_?" She spouted, a bit louder than she'd meant to. "How?"

"I have no idea."

He broke eye contact with her again, causing her to frown in concern. She was beginning to wonder more about his strange behavior than her name on an old wall. "John? Are you all right?"

"Fine."

She crossed her arms. "You're not acting 'fine'."

His head tilted to the side a bit. "I'm just...concerned, that's all." He turned towards her. "Don't you think this is...err...concerning?"

She squinted at him for a moment, fully aware of the fact that he was brushing her off. But in light of the situation, she decided to let it slide. "Of course I do. How old was this place?"

He motioned back at the door. "McKay chipped off a small piece of the wall to test how old it is."

"How old did it look?"

"Old."

Again, he was trying to get her to drop it, but she wouldn't bite this time. "How old is old?"

He was silent for a moment. "As old as Antarctica." He seemed to search her face for a reaction before quickly adding, "But it could just be the weather on the planet."

She didn't answer him, and he didn't say anything else, as they were both well aware that he was only trying to ease her worry. So they just stood there, staring out at the ocean in silence. This situation seemed to happen rather often between them as of late.

There were a lot of uncertain things in their world, but Elizabeth knew for sure that she enjoyed his company. These peaceful moments on the balcony were moments that she'd come to look forward to. True, there were usually extreme circumstances that triggered them, but not always.

Sometimes these moments made her wonder if John perhaps did care for her after all.

But she didn't dare give the thought too much weight. There was no need to get her hopes up over wishful thinking. And she wasn't even considering the fact that it would probably present a major problem to the Atlantis Expedition if the first and second in command were entangled in a relationship.

It didn't matter that she knew she couldn't live without him nearby. Didn't matter that she doubted she'd be able to keep breathing if he were to go. She was the leader of Atlantis, and that was her responsibility.

She didn't have the luxury of a life of her own.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Rodney had convinced Elizabeth that holding the briefing in his lab was the best course of action, in the favor of using visual aids. Apparently, he'd found something of interest with the help of Doctor Zelenka. 

Weir crossed her arms uncomfortably. "Let's start with the basics. What does it say?"

"Well, actually, that's not quite so basic as you might think." Rodney grimaced slightly. "It's encrypted."

"But there are a few words that are not subject to the encryption," Zelenka finished. "Wraith, Atlantis, Earth--."

"And interestingly enough," Rodney interrupted, "Dr. Weir, you aren't alone. Colonel Sheppard's name appears on the wall as well."

Elizabeth looked over at John, and saw that his mouth was hanging open. _"What?"_

"Yes, it appears near the end of the wall." Zelenka told him.

Elizabeth stared at John a few moments longer than was comfortable before turning back to Rodney. "So what does the rest of it say?"

"Well, ah...heh. Like I said before, not so simple." Rodney typed a command on a keyboard to bring up a section of the writings.

"You can decode it, right?" John asked him.

"Of course I can. I just need a primer."

"The _primers_, you mean." Zelenka corrected.

"Yes, _of course_ I mean primer_s_." Rodney hated being corrected. "Let me show you." He typed in another command, which highlighted a few Ancient characters of the text. "Now, the text is written in a very high form of encryption. We've got two computers running over three hundred potential primers per minute, and we haven't even begun to crack it." He pointed at the screen. "Now, these words were the only unencrypted words in the text, so it stands to reason that they hold a clue for solving the remaining portion. Now, for reasons too boring to get into, when codes are written in this way they are decrypted by a primer, which is the key that the code-writer builds into a code for the purpose of decryption."

"You see, a primer is a mathematical equation which provides us with a basis for understanding true and false within the context of the writings--."

Rodney purposely cut Zelenka off. "Like I said, reasons too boring to get into." He typed in another command on the keyboard, and the highlighted words all gathered next to each other. "Now, Dr. Zelenka had the idea to line the unencrypted words up and try to derive a mathematical formula from the Ancient characters, which actually worked."

"The primer we found revealed a gate address to a world we've never been to," Zelenka explained.

"So, Zelenka cracked it," John stated, a half smile on his face.

"Well I'm sure if I'd worked on it another minute that I would have thought to do that. It just seemed so ridiculously simple."

"Yes," Zelenka added, rolling his eyes, "of course you would have."

Elizabeth allowed herself a small smile. "Boys." They stopped bickering and looked at her. "Focus."

"Right."

"Sorry."

John shook his head, and motioned towards the screen. "Wait, so you're telling us that the entire wall translates to just _one_ gate address?"

"No." Rodney continued fiddling with the keyboard, and the screen panned out to show the entire text, highlighted in three different colors. "There are actually four levels of encryption, thus four primers. We've found one, now we just have to find the other three."

Zelenka crossed his arms. "And with this high level of encryption, the chances of us finding them using our computers is very small."

Elizabeth stared thoughtfully at the screen for a moment. Was this some sort of Ancient scavenger hunt? "Do you have any idea how old this writing is?"

"I scanned a piece of stone I brought back, and from what I can tell, the greenish glow we saw is a sort of forcefield that protects the place. The writing on the wall is at least three hundred thousand years old, and that IS a conservative estimate."

There was silence for a moment. "I think we can rule out any Ancients that the other Dr. Weir encountered when she went back into time," Zelenka said.

Three hundred thousand. The number was astounding for her to think about. "Options."

"We could always send a MALP through the gate to check out the address," John offered, drawing out the 'always'.

She smiled a bit, and looked over at him. "All right. We'll see where this takes us."

"Right," Rodney nodded. "We'll keep working on the writing. I'm sure there's something in the Ancient database that can help us."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

She was standing on the balcony again, gazing at the endless expanse of ocean. The sound of the ocean was loud and calming, and she allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment and take a deep breath of salty air. But mingled with the scent of salt was another scent that was unmistakable, one that she tried to ignore. 

Elizabeth wasn't on the balcony alone. John Sheppard was right beside her.

"So." He was leaning against the edge. "Three _hundred_ thousand years old."

She shook her head. "That's older than human civilization back on Earth."

"It's really...something."

John amazed her. Sometimes he could be so passionate, and sometimes he didn't speak much at all. She figured that he was a man of much thought, but few words at times like these. And from the expression on his face, he was thinking very hard.

He took a few steps back and leaned against the wall. "Three hundred thousands years. It's hard to even comprehend."

"There has to be a rational explanation," she reasoned. "There must be another time travel device, or at least a time viewing device of some sort."

"Hopefully we'll find something out tomorrow, since the MALP sent back good results."

"What could possibly be left after that long?" she asked, but it was more of a statement...and he didn't answer.

What indeed?

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**AN:** Feel free to comment, and check back next Tuesday for the next part :)


	4. The Ocean Stone

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I don't pretend to own them. Just borrowing.

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_Chapter 3 - Ocean Stone_

-

The MALP was reliable so many times. And other times, well...not so much. For example, one would think that the MALP could identify when the Stargate was located on a tiny island.

But one would be wrong in that assumption.

John was _not_ happy. They'd thought that dialing Atlantis back and asking for a puddlejumper would be the best course of action, but of course the DHD was on the _mainland_. And it was raining. _Pouring_, in fact.

Teyla volunteered to swim for it, but it didn't matter much who went, because in the end all four of them were soaking wet from the heavy rain. And of course, their radios refused to work, so they had to put in their IDC and return to Atlantis.

It had been quite interesting to walk back into the gate room while soaking wet.

"You've only been gone five minutes---oh...my..." Elizabeth's voice had died as she reached the bottom of the stairs. An amused expression overcame her features as she looked him over head to toe. She was speechless for a moment, before finally having something to say. "Wet weather, I presume?"

"I think it might be a good idea to take a jumper..."

Laughter roared through the gateroom, and eventually even he had to laugh with everyone else. It _was_ kind of funny, really. Conversations had developed, and it was while watching Ronon and Teyla that he noticed Elizabeth out of the corner of his eye. She was staring at him, and the look on her face was certainly _not_ amusement.

He pretended he didn't notice, like he was looking at some interesting spot on the far wall. But his stomach churned as he _felt_, rather than saw her eyes. In an instant he built up the courage, and turned to face her.

And for one devastating moment, their eyes locked. Her expression was intense, but there was sadness in it. And in that one moment, his mind raced through a lot of things that he always tried to not think about.

_That_ day was the first thing that came to mind. The deep, dark cold he'd felt inside as Kolya threatened to kill her. And then the emptiness he'd felt when he'd been told that she'd been killed..._executed_. John had never been a cold blooded sort of soldier, but he remembered killing and feeling absolutely nothing afterwards on that day. Hell, he'd killed an entire company of Genii soldiers without so much as batting an eye. And to this day his only regret was that he hadn't killed them all.

But she hadn't died, and that night he'd been unable to sleep because of the magnitude of what those events had revealed about himself. But he put it out of his mind, he banished it from all thought. Though it had proven difficult, it did work for a few weeks. That is, until he'd heard that three Wraith Hive ships were heading towards Atlantis.

It was then that the sheer weight of his situation came crashing down on him. That night there was a blackout on one of the piers, and he'd wanted to be somewhere dark and lonely. With the sounds of the ocean resonating through him, he finally faced reality and admitted to himself that he loved Elizabeth. He honestly couldn't remember _not_ loving her, even from the moment he'd laid eyes on her.

It had taken a Genii strike force to make him realize it. It had taken certain death to make him face it.

It was a devestating, crushing revelation. He'd fallen in love with his first in command, pretty much.

He thought of telling her. He came so close the night before the seige of the city had began. After they'd returned to Earth, and were on their way back to Atlantis, he'd almost said it.

How could so much emotion be contained in the space of a single look?

She blinked and turned away, actually _turned away _to busy herself with something.

He'd pushed it from his mind, and they went back through the gate in a jumper, only to find that it had stopped raining. And also that there was a small landbridge that connected the tiny island to the mainland. It had just been flooded before.

He sarcastically thought that he was having great luck, but nearly as soon as they came upon the mainland they'd spotted a village, and there wasn't much time for personal reflection after that. The locals were nice, if a little primitive, and had offered warm drinks to the travellers. Rodney had prodded about temples, outposts, archeological digs, and after a bit of bizarre dialogue the locals informed them of an underground chamber just south of the gate, on one of the smaller islands.

And of course, it was too small for the puddlejumper to land on.

Once again, all the luck in the world.

A nearby island was large enough, so John landed there. As chance would have it (because he was quite through talking about luck for the day) a sandbar existed between the islands, and they were able to wade across the short distance.

Soaking wet from the knees down, he cursed to himself. At least he hadn't had to _swim_.

"What is it we are looking for?" Teyla asked.

"An opening into the ground," Rodney answered. "Should be near the middle of the island."

"Found it." Ronon stood a short distance from them, his hand pointing towards a depression in the sand.

Sure enough, it was the opening they'd been looking for. "No hatch," John commented. "That's strange, isn't it?"

It was a bit odd to drop down into such a cool, dry old cavern on a very hot, very wet tropical island. Rodney muttered something about how it just wasn't possible, that something had to be protecting the cavern, and John was inclined to agree. It was too dusty, and there was too much ocean around them for it to be so dry.

The cavern itself was unlike anything John had ever seen before. The walls were covered with two symbols that looped together over and over again, and covered the entire wall top to bottom, side to side. One red, one blue, seeming to stretch into infinity...or at least into the shadows at the other end of the hallway. He suddenly froze, and took a moment to experience what was going on around him. It was all so familiar...the sound of the water, the dry, dusty smell of the cavern. He took a deep breath and thought long and hard.

Had he been here before?

He turned to look around him once again. He knew it wasn't possible, but he _remembered_ this place. He knew he'd seen it before.

"...prophecy."

John spun around immediately. "Yes, what?"

Rodney rolled his eyes at him. "I was referring to the wall, Colonel. Pay attention."

John shook his head. "Sorry, I was distracted. What does it say?"

"The blue symbol says 'prophecy'. Not sure yet what the red one means, but I'm sure I'll figure it out."

John's mouth twisted into a sarcastic smile. "I'm sure."

Rodney's expression was one of agitation, and he had opened his mouth to respond when Teyla's voice rang through the cavern.

"Colonel Sheppard! Doctor McKay! We have found something!"

Teyla and Ronon were on the other end of the long hallway. As he made his way towards them, he kept looking around. There was _nothing_ down there, at least, not on his end. Upon reaching them, he noticed that she stood over what appeared to be a small chest. "What've you got?"

"This container will not open," she explained to him. "And it appears to be the only thing in this chamber."

"Already tried to break it," Ronon added. "It's tough."

Rodney bent down to examine it. "It's probably sealed by Ancient technology." He fiddled with a black device on the top, and it sprang to life. "Ah, see? Now, it should open if I just..." He pressed his hand against a scan pad on the top of the chest, and waited, but the screen flashed red and did not open. He frowned, and tried again, but it didn't open.

"Rodney?" John pressed.

"I don't know! It should have worked!" he responded agitatedly. "If it's scanning for the Ancient gene, I've had the gene therapy!" He kept on messing with it for a few moments before standing back up. "Ah, give me a minute," he griped, and stepped away.

However, John kept on staring at the machine and the pad designed for hand scanning. He felt like he needed to try, like maybe that it would work. So before he really even thought it through, he bent down in front of it and pressed his hand against the pad.

Rodney had caught sight of what he was doing, and proceeded to shout while the scan began. "Colonel, it won't work. I've already---."

The pad suddenly flashed a bright shade of blue, and the lock immediately released.

John couldn't keep his face from lighting up. "Cool."

"What did you do?" Rodney asked.

"I just let it scan my hand."

"But why did it work?"

"I don't know." He unlatched the case and opened it.

The contents seemed modest on first glance. Three clay jars, a stone tablet about the size of his palm, and a small gemstone that resembled an aquamarine.

"That's it?" McKay whined. "This can't be what we're looking for!"

John picked up the small tablet and handed it to Rodney. "What about this? Looks to be the same stuff the wall is made of."

"Maybe...Possibly..." Rodney took it and started studying the walls. "Probably."

John reached in and picked up the blue gemstone. The moment he picked it up he felt...dread. Dread and uneasiness. He put the stone back into the small chest, but the feeling did not go away. He stood and looked around, and saw that the light from the far end of the tunnel was dimming. It was getting late, so in either case, it was time to go.

"Teyla, Ronon, take the chest back to the jumper. Me and Rodney will be with you in a minute."

"Very well."

John joined Rodney in his search of the wall. And after searching a considerable amount of time, Rodney squealed. "I found it!"

He approached Rodney, who was pointing at a bare spot on the wall. "All right...you're sure about sticking this thing into the wall?"

"Of course I am," Rodney muttered while lining up the tablet. "I mean, I'm pretty sure." He stopped and glanced over at John. "Fairly sure."

"Just do it."

"Right." He pushed the stone in, and for a moment, nothing happened. But an instant later the tablet changed and popped out of the wall. Instead of looking like a chunk of the cavern, it now contained writing in Ancient.

Rodney pulled the tablet out of the slot on the wall and smiled. "This is it! This is another primer! It should be, anyway..."

John heard his radio click, and Ronon's voice came through. "Party's over. The Genii are here."

Again, he sarcastically noted that luck was _clearly _on their side that day. "You have got to be kidding."

Teyla's voice came over the radio that time. "He is correct. The Genii are approaching the island by boat."

Rodney looked over at John. "How did they know we were here?"

"They must have had spies in the village. Let's move!"

Getting out of the dusty cavern without being seen was going to be a tricky ordeal. The Genii were close, and they'd be seen. But on the other hand, there weren't _too_ many of them...

"Okay, here's the plan," he whispered to McKay. "I'll make a run for the gate on the far island. I think the sandbar extends that far---."

"You _think_?"

"Yes. Like I was saying, I'll make a run for it and get them on my tail. While they're after me, you run back to the jumper and come pick me up."

Rodney's mouth was half-open. "Are you crazy? That's a _terrible _plan!"

He patted him on the shoulder. "I'm glad you like it." And with that, he raced out of the opening and ran for dear life.

At first, when the Genii had been too far away to get a good shot, it had been easy to evade them. But as he made it to the landbrige near the Stargate, they were certainly getting closer. In fact, there were six of them right behind him.

"Colonel Sheppard!" Teyla's voice rang over the radio. "We cannot land at your position!"

"Dial up Atlantis and go through, I'm right behind you!"

"You will not make it! The Genii are too many!"

"Don't worry about me!" He laid down cover fire from his position and made a run for the gate. "Dial the damn gate!" he shouted into the radio.

There was a pause of about two seconds, and then the glyphs began to light up one by one. John immediately turned around to lay down more cover fire behind him before grabbing his radio. "Atlantis, we're coming in hot!" He punched in his IDC, and it was around that time that the Genii began firing again. There was no where else to take cover, so John ran as fast as he could towards the gate while returning fire.

He felt something painful shatter into his side about the time he made a leap toward the event horizon. The next thing he knew was traveling through the wormhole, and then falling through the other side in Atlantis. He ducked out of the way immediately for the puddlejumper, and heard the whir of the shield as it went up.

As he watched Elizabeth fly down the stairs towards him, he reached into his vest to pull out the tablet. Unfortunately, he pulled out crumbles of stone with a bullet lodged in the middle. He shook his head in frustration. The tablet had undoubtedly saved his life, but on the other hand, whatever it had said was gone forever.

"What happened?" Elizabeth came to a halt right in front of him.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Well, this is just great." McKay sorted the pieces of the tablet on the table in front of them. "Way to go, Colonel. We'll never figure it out now!" 

"McKay, I had six Genii trying to shoot me. I'm sorry."

"The primer is gone. Do you even comprehend how incredibly hard it will be to piece the correct one together? It could take months, if we can even do it at all!" Rodney was shouting very loudly.

"Rodney, calm down!" Elizabeth intervened. "It couldn't be avoided."

Rodney stared at the pieces for a long moment. "Maybe the Asgard can help us with this. Surely the Daedalus is back in range by now."

Elizabeth was silent, which caused John to frown at her. "What is it?"

She looked over at him. "The Daedalus is still not showing up on our deep space scanners."

Again, the whole luck thing. Bad bad bad. "It was supposed to be _here_ a week ago."

"I'm sure they've just been delayed," Rodney offered, his voice very small and quiet.

"I'm sure." John nodded. "No reason to think otherwise, not yet."

Elizabeth changed the subject back to the original purpose of the meeting. "What else did you find?"

Rodney answered her immediately. "The walls were covered with two symbols to create a sort of mosaic effect. The blue symbol I'm fairly certain means 'prophecy'."

Elizabeth nodded. "See if you can find anything in the Ancient Database about it." She looked over the other artifacts. "What else?"

John pointed at the clay jars. "Those...and..." He paused to pull out the blue gemstone. "This. It was in the chest we found."

Elizabeth's head turned slightly. "That looks like an aquamarine."

"A bit, maybe."

"A bit out of place, isn't it?"

"I thought so."

"May I see it?"

He held out the stone in the palm of his hand and smiled. "Be my guest."

"Thanks." She smiled the soft smile she usually gave to everyone as she reached out to take the stone.

The moment her fingertips touched the jewel, everything went white. Blindingly white.

There had been no sound, no flash of light, no feeling of getting pulled away from Atlantis. They were just standing there, their palms pressed against each other. And quite literally, there was _nothing_ else there. They weren't really anywhere, for that matter.

John glanced around him before looking back at Elizabeth. "Uh...what the hell just happened?"

Surprise was written all over her face, and he watched her eyes dart around for a moment. "I don't know." She locked eyes with him again, and he stood perfectly still. "Where are we?"

"I don't have a clue," he answered, but he didn't move. He didn't dare break the contact between their hands.

Presently, a sound began to grow around them. It was very soft at first, rather like the sound of ocean waves breaking on the shore. It grew in volume, getting louder and louder.

"Do you hear that?" he asked her.

She nodded her response. "John, what's happening?"

He looked all around as the sound grew louder and louder. "I don't know." He brought his other hand up and closed it around hers. "I don't know," he repeated. And quite naturally, he pulled her into his arms. She curled into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

Presently the sound grew to a roar, and it became painful to hear. They gripped onto each other even tighter, and tighter still as the sound became excruciating. It became unbearable for him, so much so that he thought that it kill him...

And suddenly, they were back in Atlantis.

They stood there as they had before, the stone in the palm of John's hand and Elizabeth's fingertips just touching it. Their eyes were locked, and a few seconds passed while they each examined the other. From the look on Elizabeth's face, he knew that she'd just experienced the same thing he had..

Finally, she spoke. "What just happ--."

He never heard the rest of her sentence as the fierce roaring from before suddenly returned, ripping through his entire body with such force that he was thrown backwards to the floor.

"Oh my...Medical emergency! Doctor Beckett to the gate room immediately!" John knew that Rodney was shouting, but he could barely hear him. "Doctor Weir and Colonel Sheppard are down!"

Elizabeth was down too? Had the same thing happened to her?

Then he heard Teyla, but her voice sounded so far away. "I do not understand! They only touched the stone!"

Rodney responded, but John felt too far away to hear what was said. Atlantis felt light years away...

In fact, he _was_ moving.

Yes, he could feel it now. He was moving very fast, but he couldn't see or hear anything. His next thought was of Elizabeth, and suddenly, he was standing on a beach.

It felt very bizarre to John to suddenly be somewhere, consciously there, yet knowing that he (or his body, at least) was back in Atlantis. He took a moment to get his bearings. He was very lucid, and quite honestly it felt quite real.

Real or not, he had no idea where he was. It seemed familiar, but that didn't comfort him in the least. "Elizabeth!" he called out. "Elizabeth, where are you!"

"I'm here."

He spun around to see her standing nearby, serene and peaceful. She was dressed all in white like an Ancient.

She was beautiful.

"Elizabeth, are you all right?"

She nodded slightly. "Yes, in a manner of speaking."

"A manner of speaking?"

"I am not quite the Elizabeth you know."

He frowned at her words. This was getting really weird, really fast. "Then...who are you?"

"Oh, do not misunderstand. I _am_ Elizabeth. I'm just the Elizabeth before she was even Elizabeth." She smiled calmly, as if what she was saying made perfect sense...which it didn't, not to John.

"So...where is the Elizabeth I know? Err, you know, the one I talk to every day?"

She smiled brightly at him, and the smile made something inside him melt. "The conscious part of her mind is speaking to you at this very moment. The you before you were John, that is."

"Wait, wait," he held up his hand. "I'm getting messed up here. You're saying you're Elizabeth...but you're like pre-Elizabeth? And my Elizabeth is speaking to...another me?"

She chuckled. "If you are confused, think of me as Elizabeth's soul. Her psyche." She placed a hand on John's shoulder. "Elizabeth and I are one and the same."

"Is she as confused as I am?"

"If it is any consolation, yes."

He gave up trying to understand, and sighed. "Is she all right?"

"You're speaking to me, aren't you?"

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes."

John crossed his arms and stared at her. "All right. What happened, and where are we?"

"This is not yet the time for those answers. But there is something I must show you before you return to Atlantis."

"Okay...but...wait..." He looked around, really looked, and came to the realization that he knew this place like he'd known the cavern. "I've been here before."

"Yes, but there is not time for an explanation. Please, look," she knelt down in the sand, and motioned for him to do the same. She traced out a pattern in the sand as he watched. "Remember these letters," she calmly told him. "Do not forget them."

He stared at the foreign word, and tried his best to burn it into memory. "What is it?"

"There is no more time," she finished. "Goodbye."

"What?" The light began to brighten around him. "No, wait!"

There was brilliant white light once again, and from then on John knew no more.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

* * *

- - - - - - - - - - - - _  
_

**AN: **As always, check back on Tuesday for the next update.


	5. Within

**AN: **There is a major _Duet_ spoiler in here, so consider yourself warned. The Sparky goodness you all have been waiting for is finally in this chapter.

Also, anything italicized and enclosed within slashes /like this/ are thoughts.

* * *

_Chapter 4 - Within_

-

_"Elizabeth."_

She knows immediately something is amiss. Even before her surroundings come into focus around her, she spins around to face him. She knows he is there, she knows he is waiting on her.

His extends his hand to her, and smiles. _"Trust me."_ He looks like he hasn't a care in the world.

She can't move, not at first. After indescribable effort she reaches to him with her arm, and is able to take just one step. But her body refuses to move any further, and she is overcome by despair. She knows it's written all over her face, that he can see it.

His outstretched hand falls back to his side, and she can't look at anything but his smile. It's a smile she's never seen before, not from him. It's serene and peaceful, and it even calms her. _"Come with me."_

Desperation floods her every sense. She tries so hard to speak, to say she will, but her mouth won't move.

He looks so peaceful standing there, his eyes shining with wisdom. _"It is all right."_ He falls backwards over the edge without another word.

_"No!" _She rushes to the edge, her heart pounding, terror gripping every muscle...

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Her eyes snapped open and a small gasp escaped her lips. 

Only a dream. _The_ dream.

Initially she was blinded by light, but after a moment she realized that she was in the infirmary.

"_Oh, she's awake_." John's voice came from...well, she wasn't really sure which direction. Her head did hurt rather badly, in all honesty...

"Yes, Colonel, thank you," she groaned, grabbing her forehead in pain.

Footsteps approached quickly from somewhere else. "Elizabeth, how're you feeling, love?"

"I'm fine, Carson."

"Is that why you keep holding your head then?" He started to make a fuss about something, but Elizabeth wasn't really paying attention.

She heard John speak once again. _"Carson, leave her alone already, you lovesick--."_

"Colonel!" Elizabeth snapped immediately, interrupting him. She had to look around before she located him on a bed to her left. "That was completely inappropriate! Apologize to Doctor Beckett this instant!"

The look on John's face was utter confusion as he stared back at her. "Uh..."

"Elizabeth, are you sure you're feeling all right, lass?" Doctor Beckett had stopped whatever he had been doing to examine her more closely.

"I'm fine, Carson. I'm sorry he insulted you like that." She shot a glare over at John, who still looked confused as hell.

Beckett glanced over at John, who just shrugged at him, before turning back to her. "Uh...I think I need to run some more tests to--."

John started talking again while Beckett just went on and on. _"Oh no, what's happened to her? This is all my fault. Those damn Genii, if they hadn't ambushed us like they did--."_

Elizabeth shouted at him this time. "Be quiet!" Both men stopped talking immediately. "John, why do you keep feeling the need to interrupt Doctor Beckett while he's talking?" She wasn't angry so much as she was agitated over the headache.

John looked genuinely concerned this time. _"Shit."_

"Watch your mouth, Colonel!" she barked back at him. Her head was _really_ hurting.

"I didn't say anything!" he shouted back.

"I _heard_ you, John."

"Uh, dear..." Beckett's voice drew her attention away. "He hasn't said a word. Now Elizabeth, if you're hearing voices, I need to know. That's a serious concern."

_/ "Oh, damn, what's that called...oh yeah, schizophrenia. Oh man, that would be bad." /_

"I'm NOT schizophrenic!" she shouted over at John.

It was silent for a moment as he stared at her. "All right, this is weird. I _thought_ that, but I didn't _say_ that."

"I heard you, John. You said it." She glared over at him.

His eyes widened. _/ "Crap. You can hear me, can't you?" /_

_/ "Of course I can hear you. We're speaking." /_

_/ "If we're speaking, then why aren't our mouths moving?" /_

She watched him carefully. His mouth had not moved, and now that she thought about it, she was fairly certain that her's hadn't either. "Did you...? No, no, no, if we've suddenly become telepathic, then what am I thinking about right now?" She imagined something she'd done earlier in the day: trying to untangle a knot in the chain of a sliver pocket watch

He looked straight at her. "A pocket watch." His eyes closed. "It's silver...wait...I can actually see it. You're twisting the chain around into a knot and untying it, over and over again."

Her jaw dropped. "Oh my god." She hadn't expected him to get it right. Her first initial reaction was whether he could dig into her innermost thoughts and feelings, her memories. Fear overwhelmed her and she panicked for a moment before realizing something.

He was afraid too. She could _feel_ it. She could literally feel his fear. She didn't know why he was afraid, and to look at him he was concealing it very well. Nonetheless, she could feel his uneasiness.

Carson stood between them and looked back and forth. "Are you two jokers telling me you're talking to each other in your heads?"

John looked up at him with an unconvincing smile. "Uh...yes?"

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Four hours of testing had confirmed it. They could project images, thoughts, and emotions towards each other. Even when on opposite ends of the city, their communication was instantaneous. John had even gated to a planet thousands of light years away, and even then there was no interrupt in their telepathy. 

Rodney and Zelenka, despite extensive examination of the blue gemstone and the other artifacts retrieved, could not explain what had happened. Rodney had said it just wasn't possible. Zelenka had muttered something in his own language. Beckett had run several neural tests and couldn't find any trace of anything out of the ordinary. It seemed that they were both as healthy as ever.

All this was interesting, but Elizabeth was, quite frankly, scared to death. Now she had to watch what she thought about? That could prove problematic...because eventually she knew _that_ thought, _that_ emotion would come up, and then he would know. Heck, John could evesdrop on every thought she had if he wanted to. Even more frightening was the fact that she could already feel a sort of bond growing between them, even though it had only been a few hours. And like a storm, she could feel its intensity and magnitude gaining strength as the hours inched by. It was no effort at all to see specific memories, to hear his thoughts, feel his emotions, and to know feelings that only he had experienced. No digging, no effort. Earlier she'd briefly thought about orange juice, and she suddenly saw a memory of John sipping on orange juice while watching TV back on Earth. She hadn't even _meant_ to see anything.

_/"Are you all right?"/ _

She felt his voice resonate through her, but not in an unpleasant way. It reminded her of standing on a beach and experiencing everything around her; the waves, the sounds, the wind. And his voice, just like the sound of ocean waves crashing onto a sandy shore, could be delightfully hypnotic.

_/"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"/ _ He wasn't anywhere nearby, but that didn't hamper her ability to speak to him.

_/"You seem a little...tense."/  
_

_ /"I'm just trying to figure out a way to draw a few lines...boundaries. This could hamper our ability to work, you know."/ _ She grinned just a bit. It was a lie, albeit a good one, but still a lie.

_/"Yeah, I kinda thought of that too. Any luck?"/ _ He sounded amused, so she wasn't sure if he'd bought it or not.

_/"We're still talking, aren't we?"/ _

_/"That's a no?"/ _

_/"That's a no."/ _

There was silence for a long while, and it was only after a few minutes that she realized that he was feeling uneasy. _/"John, you okay?"/ _

At first he didn't respond. /_"Elizabeth, do you remember what happened when we touched the stone?"/ _

Her breath caught. /_"Yes."/ _

_/"I talked to you...err...your soul, actually, and you drew a word in the sand and told me to remember it."/  
_

She chuckled a bit. _/"I saw you too, but you...uhh...you sang to me."/ _

_/"I sang to you? What did I sing?"/ _

_/"I don't remember. But it was in Ancient."/  
_

The conversation was starting to get interesting, but a voice crackling in her headset interrupted them. "Doctor Weir?" She couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed that they'd been interrupted by Doctor Zelenka, but it certainly wasn't his fault.

"Yes, go ahead."

"Could you and Colonel Sheppard report to the lab, please? Rodney and I have discovered something on one of the artifacts from the planet."

"I'll be right there," she answered.

"Oh, and could you tell the Colonel to come as well? He seems to have removed his earpiece."

_/"I'm already on my way"/ _ came the immediate response from John.

"He's already on his way."

She grabbed her jacket off the back of a chair and made her way from her room. _/"You heard that?"/ _ she asked him.

_/"I heard you thinking about it. Does that count?"/ _ He sounded like he was trying to make a joke, but didn't really feel it.

She chuckled. _/"No, not really. I'll be there in just a minute."/ _She continued to pace down the hall, doing her best to keep her thoughts quiet. _/"Why aren't you wearing your earpiece, by the way?"/ _

_/"Doctor's orders. Beckett said he'd take it away if he caught me with it."/ _

She grinned. _/"Sounds like him."/  
_

_ /"Besides, one voice in my head is quite enough, thanks."/ _

_/"One is too many. This will get confusing after a while."/ _

_/"You're telling me."/ _ There was a short pause before she heard him again. _/"You're slow. I'm already there."/ _

She stepped into the transporter. _/"Not by much."/ _She stepped out at her destination and walked the last little distance to Rodney's lab.

"Doctor Weir, so nice of you to join us," Rodney said in a flat voice. The dark bags under his eyes were likely signs that he hadn't slept in over day. "How are you feeling?"

She sat down at the table where the others were. "Let's just say I understand how you felt when you had Cadman stuck in your head."

"Funny, Colonel Sheppard just said the same thing," Rodney responded with a sort of unamused grin that only he could pull off. "Anyway, I found a gate address--."

"Actually, I was the one who found it," Zelenka interrupted.

"Yes, yes, it doesn't _matter_ who found it," Rodney snipped. "What matters is that we found it. After examining it a bit, I'm fairly certain that it is the same writing that we found on the tablet that was regrettably destroyed while in Colonel Sheppard's possession." He glared in John's direction.

_/"Do you ever have the urge to strangle him?"/ _John thought at Elizabeth.

_/"All the time"/ _she responded immediately, a tiny smile warning the edges of her mouth.

_/"Come on, let me do it. It'll be fun."/ _

It took considerable effort to keep from bursting out in laughter. _/"Sorry John. If Rodney is asphyxiated he won't be much help to us."/ _

_/"Oh yeah, right, right..."/ _

Rodney continued on, oblivious to their communication. "Now, upon further examination I discovered--."

"We discovered," Zelenka interrupted once again.

"Yes, of course, _we discovered _that the writing is actually a gate address."

"We've attempted all sorts of permutations on the symbols just in case it is a primer, but we have had no luck so far." Zelenka took a few notes on his laptop.

"Just out of curiosity," John asked, "Do we know why we were attacked by the Genii?"

Rodney straightened slightly. "While you two were unconscious, an offworld team reported intelligence that the Genii had a spy on the planet where the temple is located. Apparently they're after the translation as well."

"Is there any chance they might beat us to it?" John asked, sounding irritated. He really, really didn't like the Genii.

"Given their level of technology, my guess would be no," McKay answered. "I mean, the chances of them translating it are extremely small. It's almost ridiculous. Besides, we have the Ancient database to help us."

"Then they're waiting for us to translate it for them," John responded.

"Precisely. My bet is that they think they have a weapon to gain from this."

Elizabeth leaned forward on the table in thought. "Let's send a MALP to that address."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The MALP had reported breathable atmosphere, and acceptable conditions for life support. She'd tried to convince John that perhaps Lorne's team should take this one, but he insisted on going himself. Besides, he had told her, it's not like she couldn't check in on him when she wanted. 

So she'd relented. And now they'd been gone over a hour, and her 'mental connection' of sorts that she had with him had gone dead the moment he went through the gate. She wasn't overly concerned since their readings showed that this planet was on the edge of the Pegasus galaxy, further than most any planet they'd gated to thus far. It seemed that their connection _could_ be severed by long distances, after all.

_/"John? John? Can you hear me?"/ _

She'd tried several times with no response. And for the first time all day, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was alone, though she'd never been quite so happy about it. And it wasn't that she minded having two-way thought communication with John...she was just afraid of what it could mean. All day, she'd been terrified she'd think one wrong thought, have one stray mental image, and he would know.

He'd know how much she loved him. How much she craved his presence, his companionship. But despite it all, they just couldn't be together, even if he did love her back. After all, she was first in command, and he was second in command. There were too many issues involved, too many hoops to jump through. And on top of all that, she didn't know if she could take the rejection. Hell, she dreamed about losing him all the time...and she didn't even have him in the first place.

She was alone. Completely and utterly.

But speaking of the dream...

She frowned. Certainly it couldn't a coincidence, not given recent events. Though it could be easy to write it off as a simple recurring nightmare, she knew deep down that it was more. There was more. Maybe it wasn't even a dream. Maybe a vision of some sort?

After a moment of turning it over in her head she chuckled and cupped her forehead. She, Elizabeth Weir, was contemplating the possibility that she was having visions. How ridiculous. Doctor Heightmeyer would have a field day with that.

The sound of glyphs activating on the Stargate broke her from her thoughts, and she quickly stepped back inside the gate room. John's IDC came through, so she poised herself and walked down the stairs to greet them.

After all, she was Elizabeth Weir. Leader. Calm and collected. Cool as a cucumber. Crisp as a piece of iceberg lettuce.

She was practically a salad.

Or maybe a fruitcake was closer to it...

She was getting distracted from the task at hand, and shook her head. She needed to concentrate. Expectantly she stood, hands clasped behind her back as the team stepped back through, and immediately she felt John and their connection once again.

"Find anything?" she asked.

"Not a whole lot," he answered. "Just one building a little ways from the gate."

"Not a lot? Are you crazy!" Rodney ran up to Elizabeth immediately. "We found more writing! It's just a short bit, a few sentences, really, but it's facinating!"

"Written in Ancient?" she asked.

"I thought that too when I first looked at it, but no," he responded. "Similar, but not quite. Then i thought maybe it was a language derived from Ancient, but after looking at it, I don't think that's the case either. The linguistic principles--."

"Rodney, get to the point," she interrupted.

"Right, right, sorry," he apologized, looking a bit embarrassed. "Long story short, I think it's a predecessor of the Ancient language, which if it is, it's old. I mean, millions of years old." He held up his camera. "Possibly ten, fifteen million years or more."

It was certainly a staggering number to wrap her mind around. "Ten million years? Were the Ancients even around that long ago?"

"That's just it! If I'm right, then this writing is pre-Lantean era! It was written _before_ Atlantis was built!" He was grinning brightly. "It could be written by people who built Atlantis, or at least their _ancestors_."

"What he means to say is that we probably just visited the Ancient homeworld," John added, frowning deeply. She squinted at him for a moment, noting that something seemed to be on his mind.

"I was getting to that!" Rodney whined, sounding not unlike a child whose candy had just been taken away. "There's a red giant hanging in the sky, so the world's obviously on its last legs. Now I know it's late, but I think we should take a jumper back as soon as possible and examine the entire planet. Who knows what else we could find!"

"All right," she answered him. "But Major Lorne and his team will go back. Colonel Sheppard, your team will return tomorrow."

Rodney looked a bit disappointed, and she put her hand on his shoulder. "Get some rest, Rodney. You can go back in the morning."

He nodded just a bit. "I'm fine. I'll work on translating this."

"No, Doctor Zelenka can work on translating it in the meantime. You've been awake for over thirty hours. Bed. Now."

"But--."

"That's not a request."

He pouted just a bit, then accepted it and nodded. "Yes, of course. I am tired, actually." She watched as he passed her and walked up the steps. "Good night."

She turned to see that the rest of the team was still standing near the gate. "Did you find anything else?"

"It seemed that the atmosphere was contained within a small area," Teyla answered her. "Doctor McKay mentioned that there was a containment field that prevented all manner of energy from escaping."

"Probably to hide it from the Wraith," Ronon added.

Elizabeth nodded. "Thank you. Why don't you all turn in for the night? It's getting very late."

"Thank you, Doctor Weir," Teyla nodded. "Good night to you." Her and Ronon left the gate room...together, interestingly enough.

John slowly walked off, but didn't say or think anything in particular to her. But he did keep looking over his shoulder at her in a peculiar manner. It unnerved her a bit, and she couldn't just let it drop without asking first.

_/"John, is everything all right?"/ _

_/"Uh, err...yeah. A-Okay. Better than okay. Hey, I'm heading off to bed."/  
_

She frowned. He was acting strange. _/"Are you sure? You don't seem like yourself."/ _

_/"Bad headache. I'm kinda tired, so I'm gonna go to bed now, okay?"/ _There was a pause for a moment, and she heard him think at her once again. _/"Could you kinda not talk...er...think...whatever at me for a while? I'm not really sure I can sleep while carrying on a conversation in my head."/ _

He smiled at her, but she could feel that it wasn't sincere. Something was definitely up...but she knew it wasn't her place to pry. Maybe it was stress from the connection, or maybe he was just tired. She wasn't feeling so hot herself, so she just nodded at him.

_/"Of course. We'll try not to think at each other for the night so we can get some rest. Sounds like a good idea."/ _

He waved at her over his shoulder as he walked off, wasting no time in exiting the room. "Good night," he called out.

She watched him go, a feeling of sadness creeping through her as he disappeared. "Good night."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The night had been surprisingly quiet, considering all things that had happened. There were no emergencies, no unscheduled offworld activations. A very peaceful night for once. So she'd had relative ease in lying down and going to sleep...that is, until she heard knocking at her door. 

_/"Elizabeth, are you in there?"/ _

She opened her eyes immediately. Why was John Sheppard standing outside her door at two in the morning? She rolled over to her feet and grabbed the nearest red shirt to put on over her pajamas, and made her way to the door. It whirred open, and standing there she saw a very frazzled looking John Sheppard.

"John...? Are you all right?"

He looked down at the floor, and she noticed that his hands were balled into fists at his side. He was very tense about something. "I...uh...Can I come in a second?"

"Sure." He stepped in immediately, and the door closed behind him. "Are you all right?" she asked gently. "It's late."

"I know, I know," he mumbled back to her, still staring at a spot on the floor. "I just...I needed to tell you...ahhh...er..." He covered his face with his hands and sighed.

His behavior was worrying her. "Are you feeling all right, John?"

"I heard you," he spat out all at once, nearly cutting her off. He finally raised his eyes to look at her, the jitteriness suddenly gone. "Earlier, I mean."

Her immediate reaction was confusion, and she knew he could feel it through their connection. "Uh...what?"

"When we were on the Ancient planet." He crossed his arms and looked away from her. "Rodney said something about a containment field there that kept energy or matter from escaping, unless it was through the Stargate." His eyes moved back to her face. "I couldn't talk to you, cause believe me, I tried. But I heard you. I heard the things you were thinking. Every word."

She shook her head, not quite understanding what he was getting at. "Right, I don't see why that would be worth waking me up over--."

Her voice died as it hit her.

_/"Oh god. Every word?"/ _

There was no change in his expression. _/"Every single word."/ _ Just by studying his face, she couldn't tell what he was thinking, or what he was about to say. Whatever it was, he was concealing it pretty well.

"I...uh..." She was at a loss for words, and quite suddenly she felt scared to death. He'd heard her. She had said she loved him, and he had heard her. And here was the moment she'd always feared, the moment that would crush her hope forever, that would kill a piece of her soul. He'd come to tell her he didn't feel the same way. Things were forever ruined between them, their friendship was over.

She hadn't noticed, but a lone tear rolled down the side of her cheek.

"No, no no no no no," he mumbled. "It's not like that at all. Not at all." He raised his hand to wipe the crystal bead from her cheek. "Don't..."

But she couldn't say anything. She couldn't even think. She just felt awful, like her heart was being ripped out of her chest. "Just..." she finally murmured, "just get it over with. I can't bear to drag this out."

There was a short pause. "I don't think you understand," he took a step closer to her. "I..." His voice died, and he placed his hands on her shoulders. _/"I love you."/ _

And for a moment, time stopped, and it was as if every emotion, every tear she'd ever shed, and every nerve had stopped as well. "What?"

"You heard me." He was no longer the nervous man who'd been standing outside her door a minute ago. His eyes were filled with conviction.

She looked him straight on, her mind refusing to believe. "Say it."

He swallowed, and nodded just a bit. "Elizabeth, I love you."

There was a certain look that John Sheppard had when he was being brutally honest about something, and that look was written all over his face. All she could hear was the pounding of her heart and blood rushing through her ears. "Don't lie to me."

"I would never," he responded immediately, and she knew it was true. "Now you say it."

She felt nauseous as she tried desperately to will her mouth to move, to say something...anything. His hand closed over hers, and oh, she wanted to grasp it in return but every muscle felt slack, every nerve was unresponsive. And quite suddenly she was acutely aware that he was standing very close to her, and their faces were just inches apart. "I can't," she pitifully muttered, but she made no attempt to move away from him. "We can't. We have duties."

His thumb brushed against her lips, and she thought she would die. "I can't spend another day or another night without you," he whispered. His arms slipped around her, and she shivered at his touch. She wanted to collapse into those arms, but she denied herself that relief.

"It doesn't matter how I feel," she muttered, nearly choking on her words. "This can't be."

His hand caressed her cheek, and involuntarily she moved her face into it. Their reactions were so natural, almost like two notes in perfect harmony. In that moment, her heart knew this always meant to be.

John's voice was just barely above a whisper now. "These moments are so short, and then they're gone." His cupped her other cheek with his hand. "These small moments, these small things, they're what life is all about. You want to walk away from that?"

There was such pain in his face. She could feel it in his mind, in his heart. Beads of silver shimmered in his hazel eyes. "If you tell me to leave, I will."

And now the decision was hers. Her eyes fluttered shut, and her mind began to race at light speed. What he had said made perfect sense. After all, wasn't it the smaller things that made up the bigger and _better_ things in life? Didn't they constitute the moments that made life worth living?

"Please stay," she breathed. _/"Please stay. I can't bear...please..."/ _

A smile warmed his face. _/"Always."/ _

And then it was quiet and still. Neither spoke. Only smiles as serene as the skies above Atlantis could be seen, but nothing more. Neither had any more words to fill their mouths or thoughts to form those words.

Just silence. Beautiful, healing silence...

Their faces were apart by the mere length of an eyelash. The depths of their eyes--hazel and green, topaz and emerald, forest meets earth--melded into one thought... And at last their lips met up.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

* * *

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_

**AN:**Next Tuesday, as always. Thanks for reading!


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